Olympic Torch Relay Flickers in Moscow

ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty Images(MOSCOW) — It is the first time in more than 30 years that the Olympic flame touched down in Russia, but it appears that the country’s inaugural leg of the torch relay may have gotten off on the wrong foot.

In a video posted on YouTube by Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti, torch bearer and champion swimmer Shavarsh Karapetyan is seen running with the burning torch when suddenly the blaze goes out.

Karapetyan motions to the unlit flame and soon enough runs up to a man with a lighter to re-ignite the torch before jogging onward.

The Olympic torch was lit in Athens one week ago and was flown into Moscow from Greece on Sunday, RT reported.

The torch relay, which kicked off in Moscow’s Red Square, will span 123 days and cover more than 56,000 kilometers (about 34,797 miles).

The torch will be carried by a record-breaking 14,000 different torch bearers before it reaches Sochi for the opening ceremony on Feb. 7, 2014, according to the 2014 Games’ official website.